Rosyth boy waiting for donor finds his match!

Eight-year-old Michael Gartshore is fighting a rare and potentially life-threatening condition called aplastic anaemia, a blood disease where all three blood cell types are deficient.

This can cause uncontrollable bleeding and increase the risk of picking up infections and currently he has to undergo two blood transfusions a week.

The Press have been following his story since he was diagnosed in April and his family have been waiting since then to see if his three-year-old sister, Charlotte is a potential match for a blood stem cell donation.

Mum Tracey told the Press: “His sister Charlotte is a match, which is amazing! Although she can be used as a donor, there will be extra risks attached to it meaning they both could get ill.

“At the news we were glad for Michael but terrified for Charlotte. She’s only three and it’s scary being told that you have to put an additional child at risk to save the first one that fell sick.

“It’s a no-brainer – it saves Michael’s life but it’s also horrible for Charlotte as she’s to go through her own journey now.”

A match for stem cell donation is based on your tissue type which means Charlotte will have to be put to sleep while medical staff extract stem cells from her pelvic bone with a “giant” needle.

“She will be sore when she wakes up,” Tracey added.

“As a lot of stem cells will be wiped from her body it will also take about 28 days for her to regenerate those, putting her at risk of illness.

“In total Charlotte, will spend two to three nights in hospital and then there’ll be a few weeks of rest at home.”

As Charlotte is so young it also puts Michael at risk because her immune system hasn’t been exposed to the CMV virus but her brother’s has. This means that if Michael has the stem cell transplant he will have a completely “new immune system” and as he will also be receiving chemotherapy as part of his treatment, it makes him even more vulnerable to viruses.

Michael’s transplant has also been postponed to see if he could recover without the major surgery as his haemoglobin levels seem to be holding at a normal level.

Tracey explained: “He is still a priority for transplant and everything is still in place but the normal levels of haemoglobin could mean something potentially is changing in his bone marrow.

“He is still not producing enough platelets or white cells but they all come from the same place so it’s encouraging.”

However, the effects of Michael’s condition are still hitting home as he was put in isolation for five days with shingles recently.

“If Michael can recover without a transplant then it’s the best outcome but sadly this might not pan out,” added Tracey.

“Regardless, this will go on for a seriously long time, which has resulted in a lot of days, actually weeks, of work being missed so far and this is only the start.

“Money is becoming an issue for us now, supporting a family of six with one wage while trying to spend extra time with wee Michael is extremely hard.

“We’re thankful for everyone that has raised money for us so far.”

To help the Gartshore family, visit www.gofundme.com/wee-michaels-journey